I mentioned a few weeks ago how I’d been using my 3-in-1 Color Tool to make previously-undiscovered outfits from the orphans in my closet.  One of the orphans that I love is my Sewing Workshop Tahoe Pant that I made back in 2002.  That orphan has been hanging around (literally) a long time, waiting for me to find something to make it pop.

The photo (the only one I have with no writing on it) at the right shows it from the back, which looks almost exactly the same as the front.

When I’m standing normally, the garment resembles a long skirt.

Since I threw out the original matching top, I’ve had a hard time finding anything to wear with it.  One of the biggest problems is that I tend to wear classic styles that are small-scaled.  The Tahoe Pant isn’t.  It’s a step outside of that box called “comfort zone” for sure.

Happily I have found a partners for the pants over the years, but the thing has never been something that I would pull out of my closet regularly, despite the fact that I like it very much.

Last winter I wore it several times with a cream top and a brown vest.  That worked okay and was subdued enough for me to feel comfortable in it. Getting comfortable in a non-traditional garment helps you take another step out of your comfort zone, doesn’t it?

This past fall, I unwittingly discovered that it looked good with my c.2005 Chiffonette Tee and my McCall’s M5668 jacket:

That combo gave me the desire to discover more ways to wear my Tahoe Pants.  It looked good with navy, and passable with cream and brown.  What else could I find?  Well, here’s another case of  3-in-1 Color Tool to the rescue!

First I compared the garment to the color cards to see which color family it actually belonged to.

I waffled a little between Purple and Fuchsia, and finally settled on Purple.  The back of the card told me where to go from there:

An analogous color scheme gave me blue-violet, violet, red-violet, purple, fuchsia, magenta, and blue-red, which is why the navy worked.  A split-complementary scheme added yellow-green.

Ah!  direction.

I love it when I have a clue!

I started looking for a long-sleeved blue top. I found one (no individual photo has survived, alas).  It’s a medium blue drop-shouldered mock turtle that I drafted with PMB sometime back in the dim mists of time.  It had about the same color value as the Tahoe Pant, and the two of them would have made a nice boring outfit together.  Unfortunately, there was a stain on the front of the top.

I’m actually not sure why it is still in my closet.

Although Mr H and I hang out at home together most days now, I want to be sure that he has an attractive wife to look at.  So.  No stained tops allowed unless I’m scrubbing the oven.

I wasn’t ready to give up the warmth of the mock turtle without at least trying to find something to cover the stained front of my top.  Can you imagine my delight when I realized that another one of my closet orphans contained each and every one of the split-complementary colors on the back of the card?

This is one outlandish Butterick jacket, whose colors tie together my pants and my top.

It’s just as loud in person as it appears in this photo.

I’m wearing it anyway.

This once.

Tags: Butterick, McCall's, McCall's M5668, Sewing Workshop

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